- About Bookbinding -

"3 Macaulay's England, 481. N. Y. 1854," instead of "Macaulay's England, N. Y. ed. 1854.
vol. 3, page 481." It is a matter of congratulation to all librarians, as well as to the reading
public, that Poole's Indexes to Periodical Literature have wisely adopted Arabic figures
only, both for volume and page. The valuable time thus saved to all is quite incalculable.
Every book which is leather-bound has its back divided off into panels or sections, by the
band across the back or by the gold or plain fillet or roll forming part of the finish of the
book. These panels are usually five or six in number, the former being the more common.
Now it is the librarian's function to prescribe in which of these panels the lettering of the
book-especially where there is double lettering-shall go. Thus

2nd
panel Cousin_____History of Modern Philosophy        

4th
panel  Wight   End        

New York
1852.

Many books, especially dramatic works, and the collected works of authors require the
contents of the various volumes to be briefed on the back. Here is a Shakespeare, for
example, in 10 volumes, or a Swift in 19, or Carlyle in 33, and you want to find King Lear,
or Gulliver's Travels, or Heroes and Hero Worship. The other volumes concern you
not-but you want the shortest road to these. If the name of each play is briefed by the first
word upon the different volumes of your Shakespeare, or the contents of each volume
upon the Swift and the Carlyle,- as they should be - you find instantly what you want, with
one glance of the eye along the backs. If put to the trouble of opening every volume to
find the contents, or of hunting it in the index, or the library catalogue, you lose precious
time, while readers wait, thus making the needless delay cumulative, and as it must be
often repeated, indefinite.
Each volume should have its date and place of publication plainly lettered at the lower
end, or what binders term the tail of the book. This often saves time, as you may not want
an edition of old date, or vice versa, while the place and date enable readers' tickets to be
filled out quickly without the book. The name of the library might well be lettered also on
the back, being more obvious as a permanent means of identification than the book-plate
or inside stamp.
Books should never be used when fresh from the binder's hands. The covers are then
always damp, and warp on exposure to air and heat. Unless pressed firmly in shelves, or
in piles, for at least two weeks, they may become incurably warped out of shape. Many an
otherwise handsomely bound book is ruined by neglect of this caution, for once
thoroughly dried in its warped condition, there is no remedy save the costly one of
rebinding.
Books are frequently lettered so carelessly that the titles instead of aligning, or being in
straight horizontal lines, run obliquely upward or downward, thus defacing the volume.
Errors in spelling words are also liable to occur. All crooked lettering and all mistakes in
spelling should at once be rejected, and the faulty books returned to the binder, to be
corrected at his own expense. This severe revision of all books when newly bound, before
they are placed upon the shelves, should be done by the librarian's or owner's own
eye-not entrusted to subordinates, unless to one thoroughly skilled.
One should never receive back books from a binder without collating them, to see if all are
perfect as to pages, and if' all plates or maps are in place. If deficiencies are found, the
binder, and not the library is responsible, provided the book was known to be perfect
when sent for binding.

Back